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Monday, April 04, 2005

The Pope - A Tribute

Only learnt this morning that Pope John Paul II (1920-2005), the spiritual leader of the Catholic church had passed away at the Vatican at 3:37am Sunday MST at the age of 84.

However, as they say life goes on and there has been some speculation on who the next pope would be. You may find this piece on the BBC website : "Q&A: What happens next?" interesting. The use of technology - text messages and email by the Vatican, to inform the international media of the Pope's demise was also seen as indication of how the Vatican had readily embraced technology under him.

One of his many positive aspects was his attitude towards other faiths and his death is mourned by many in the Muslim world. He support Palestinian rights and was against the war in Iraq. One report also points out that he was the 1st Pope to pay an official visit to a mosque.

I con't forget how he forgave Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turk who seriously wounded the pope during an assassination attempt in 1981, even meeting him in prison in 1983.